If you are immersed in the evidence-based design process, then you know that a connection to nature is at the core of how the design of the built environment impacts the reduction of stress/pain and replenishes the soul.

Landscape architecture is a profession that has created exterior places of wellbeing for centuries. Then why not use similar design principles from landscape architecture in the design of an interior? Have you tried? Where are the similarities in the core principles for designing a healing place outside versus inside? Is it truly about blurring the interior and exterior of a building’s experience or is there a secret formula we have yet to crack?

Let’s examine for a minute what would happen if we discarded all of our beliefs about how an interior should be designed and turned to what we know from a baseline of research about how to positively influence the human condition. What if from that baseline of knowledge we asked questions about how to create a safe, human-centered, efficient, effective, mobile, and restorative environment? Hypothesize, if you will, and explore a new set of design principles that inform a new design vocabulary.

Atna Insurance is sending its network’s doctors alerts via mobile devices for patient care, as more medical professionals use smartphones and tablets in their daily practices.

Aetna sends free mobile medical alerts and offers e-prescribing services to its Florida network doctors to better help coordinate health care. The insurance carrier has not yet said if it will expand the service nationwide, but it may do so if the Florida doctors embrace the new alert system.

Aetna said the services allow doctors to instantly access medical literature, as well as clinical and patient information from Aetna’s claims department, even while the doctors are with their patients. This will allow them to identify safety issues, talk with patients about missed tests or checkups and discuss health management programs.

Think about the way we most commonly view art. We may go to a museum, gallery, or show. We might pay an admission fee, have a membership card, or gather in a crowded room, sipping wine out of plastic cups. Doesn’t it seem more logical to bring art to where the people are or where they most need it? Doesn’t it make sense to bring it to a place where there’s a captive audience who would benefit from diversion, calming imagery, and creativity?